James Walker: Food? The menu needs to change

In fact, my diet is straightforward and I sort of stick to the basics. I am resistant to “trying” anything and salt, pepper, garlic and Adobo are the only spices I need or want.

I don’t even like fan favorites such as macaroni and cheese, potato salad or lasagna — which leaves people aghast as if I broke some culinary law.

So, I am not focused on food, other than that my body needs the nourishment it provides to keep going. I guess that is why I have been out of loop on the seriousness of food shortages and food waste.

But lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about it — but for all the wrong reasons. I have gotten into a very bad habit of throwing away a lot of food.

Over the last several months, it has begun to bother me every time I clean out my refrigerator and dump meat, produce and bread into the garbage to be carted away to some landfill. Not to mention snack food such as cakes. Not only is it wasteful, it is costing me a lot of money.

There are a lot of reasons for this, at least to me. Most supermarkets package food for families, not single people; my meals are not planned and food spoils before I can finish using it; I don’t eat on a schedule and I am confused by sell-by dates and when exactly food in my refrigerator is no longer edible.

To me, if a product is labeled with a “sell by” date, I assume the product is good until that date. But that is not true. I just threw away a package of bacon with a May 5 date but it already was smelling rancid and had a pasty residue forming. And that happens more than I care to admit.

But my food waste is only partially what this column is about. I am learning that much of the food I am throwing away may still be good. And it seems, that holds true for most Americans.

Consumers waste about 40 percent of all food in the U.S. That works out to be roughly a pound of food per day, per person — an astonishing number when you take into account the number of Americans who are food insecure.

According to researchers at the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, University of Vermont and University of New Hampshire, of the 22 food groups, fruits, vegetables and mixed fruit and vegetable dishes (39 percent of total) were wasted the most — followed by dairy (17 percent), with meat and mixed-meat dishes (14 percent) picking up the rear.

And that waste is ending up in landfills creating environmental hazards because of the pollution it creates. According to the environmental website moveforhunger.org, “when it rains on landfills, the water allows for toxic chemicals, such as ammonia, to develop, leaving wildlife such as birds and mammals that scavenge for food at the dump at risk.”

So what is being done about approximately $160 billion worth of food wasted by Americans each year ?

I was speaking Friday with Alena Murphy, national site administrator for Food Rescue US, formerly known as Community Plates in Norwalk. The organization’s mission is to work at the intersection of hunger and food waste, thereby feeding people while reducing harmful environmental impact.

The nonprofit works to end food insecurity by transferring fresh, usable food that otherwise would have been thrown away by restaurants, markets and other sources to food-insecure families in the U.S. Right now, the nonprofit is in 13 states plus the District of Columbia. Its goal is to rescue food in all 50 states within the next five years.

“Today in America, there are more than 40 million people suffering from food insecurity, including 12 million children,” she said. “And yet, while so many families struggle to put food on the table, over 116 million pounds of usable food is thrown away every single year.”

Murphy said nearly 40 percent of the food waste is healthful fresh fruits and vegetables and the amount of food wasted in the U.S. is more than enough to feed every single hungry person in America.

I am not on some campaign but I am beginning to think hard about the amount of food I waste and how many people wish they could have it. I remember what it is like to stare into an empty refrigerator willing something to appear; and if you don’t know that feeling, then you don’t know hunger.

There are many people in Connecticut who struggle to put food on the table three times a day. I have written before about the people I see standing in line for food. But sometimes, we lose focus of the basics because we are so focused on the big things that happen in life.

I guess that is why it has taken so long for it to sink in that there is a food shortage that is impacting a lot more people than I thought. And why I did not know there are organizations and businesses that are making changes to how food is redistributed to feed hungry people.

But the organization only works with waste from professional businesses such as restaurants, markets, grocers, institutions, corporate cafeterias and caterers — not individuals.

For individuals, there are three companies in Connecticut that provide residential food scrap collection. One is New Haven-based Peels & Wheels Composting.

But for me, my coworker just informed me after reading the first draft of this column — and laughing at my predicament — that he would come to my house and eat up the waste.

I guess that’s better than throwing it away.

Food? The menu needs to change.

James Walker is the New Haven Register’s senior editor and statewide columnist for Hearst Connecticut newspapers. He can be reached at 203-680-9389 or james.walker@hearstmediact.com. @thelieonroars on Twitter